The fall in breast cancer mortality seen after widespread mammography screening was introduced in the US was mainly due to improved systemic therapy and not earlier detection of tumours, a comparison of national cancer data before and after the introduction of screening programmes has shown.

Women taking combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are 2.7 times more likely to develop breast cancer than non-users, and the risk may increase with longer use, a study published in the British Journal of Cancer has found.

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The researchers, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said that previous studies may have substantially underestimated the risk of breast cancer from combined HRT, as they did not update information about a woman’s HRT use or analyse accurately to allow for her age at menopause.

The new research was part of the Breast Cancer Now Generations Study, which is following more than 100 000 women for 40 years to investigate the causes of breast cancer.

Two drugs currently provided under the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) should cease to be available because they are not cost effective, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has concluded.

Everolimus for breast cancer (Afinitor, Novartis) and ibrutinib for mantle cell lymphoma (Imbruvica, Janssen) do not meet the grade, says NICE in draft guidance now open for consultation.

A large prospective study, published in Breast Cancer Research, has found no association between breast cancer risk and stress levels or adverse life events.1 Women with breast cancer have often attributed their cancer to psychological stress, although the scientific evidence for this has been inconclusive.

The Generations study, set up by Breast Cancer Now, the United Kingdom’s largest breast cancer research charity, included 106 000 women in the UK.

Scientists at Edinburgh University have developed a service to store testicular tissue from boys as young as 1 who are at risk of infertility because of cancer treatment. In future boys as well as girls might be able to have their fertility restored subsequent to chemotherapy.

The announcement comes after the birth of the first UK baby to be born after his mother had a transplant of her own, previously frozen, ovary tissue.

The Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) has today completed a further review of the effectiveness of treatments it funds to ensure it delivers the best outcomes for patients. The fund will no longer pay for 16 medicines used to treat a variety of cancers, including breast prostate and pancreatic cancer.

Taking low dose aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) continuously in the long term is associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer, a Danish case-control study has shown.

The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, analysed data on drug use, comorbid conditions, and history of colonoscopy from Danish prescription and patient registries.

The guideline focuses on the symptoms that a patient might experience and present with in surgeries. It should enable GP’s to monitor people presenting with less severe symptoms, so that fewer cancers are missed.

NICE hope that the guideline will make its recommendations easier for GP’s to use, speeding up the referral process and make diagnosis quicker.

Women with breast cancer are four times less likely to have potentially curative surgery if their condition is diagnosed as an emergency rather than through an urgent GP referral, a report from Public Health England and Cancer Research UK has shown.

On a national level the report looked at how treatment varies in different cancers, depending on the patient’s route to diagnosis.

The tobacco industry should be forced to pay towards smoking cessation efforts in England as part of a new national tobacco control strategy, a multi-agency report has claimed.

Experts have called for a national annual levy on tobacco companies, fresh targets such as a drop in smoking rates to 5% by 2035, a new five year government tobacco strategy for England, and an increase to the tax escalator on tobacco products to 5% above the level of inflation.

The field of cancer diagnostics is in constant flux as a result of the rapid discovery of new genes associated with cancer, improvements in laboratory techniques for identifying disease causing events, and novel analytic methods that enable the integration of many different types of data. These advances have helped in the identification of novel, informative biomarkers

Clinicians who rely on genomic analysis of only a patient’s tumor tissue to guide cancer therapy could be misled by the presence of harmless mutations that are also present in the patient’s normal germline cells and are unrelated to the cancer, a study published in Science Translational Medicine has found

Vegetarian diets are associated with an overall lower incidence of colorectal cancers, a large prospective cohort trial has found.

The US study, published online by JAMA Internal Medicine, included 77 659 men and women who were assessed by a food frequency questionnaire and categorised into four vegetarian groups (vegan, lacto-ovo vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, and semi-vegetarian) or a non-vegetarian group. During a mean follow-up of 7.3 years 380 cases of colon cancer and 110 cases of rectal cancer were recorded.

Previous research has linked statins to a reduced risk of liver cancer, but much of the evidence has been from areas of the world with high rates of this type of cancer. So, researchers analysed data from the United Kingdom to investigate the effects of taking statins in a country with a relatively low incidence of liver cancer.

Acute oncology on the acute medical unitThis toolkit aims to improve the care of cancer patients admitted to hospital as an emergency with medical problems due to their cancer or their treatment. It stresses the importance of patients having access to cancer specialists as soon as possible, and suggests that NHS trusts set up acute oncology services, which can work with the team in the acute medical unit to help in the management of patients with acute oncology problems.

A cheap cancer drug is just as effective and safe in treating a common cause of loss of vision as an expensive alternative, finds research funded by the NIHR HTA Programme. [more…]

Liver function tests not efficient in identifying specific disease

Liver function tests (LFTs) result in many false positive results for each case of disease detected, and are not an efficient way to diagnose liver disease. They should be used sparingly in primary care, concludes a study funded by the NIHR HTA Programme. [more…]

Study to compare haemorrhoid treatments

A study funded by the NIHR HTA Programme could change the standard procedure for treating the painful condition of haemorrhoids. [more…]

NIHR Themed Call: Early Announcement – UPDATE

We are pleased to announce that the NIHR Antimicrobial Resistance themed call has now launched. Application forms are available from participating programmes’ websites between July and December 2013, with the HTA and EME Programmes opening first. This call is for research into the evaluation of public health measures, health care interventions and health services to reduce the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance and consequent morbidity. [more…]

Funding opportunities

Commissioned research

The broader brief – a new way of commissioning

We are launching a new initiative to potentially commission a number of varied research proposals under the same research brief. This broader brief is in the field of MRI scanning in planning epilepsy surgery. Deadline for applications is 1pm on 29 August 2013. Full details, application forms and guidance notes are available on the HTA website. [more…]

Applications are considered three times a year. The next cut-off deadline for proposals is 1pm on 2 September 2013. Full details, application forms and guidance notes are available on the HTA website. [more…]

For cancer patients or anyone who would like to make better use of their headscarves but not sure what to do next, this website provides useful tips and great videos on how to be that little bit more stylish.

The topic this month is “East Cheshire NHS Trust – Researching Today for a Better Tomorrow”

Members of our Clinical Research Team are delivering the next Health Matters public talk on Tuesday, 14 May, 7.00-8.00pm, in the new Lecture Theatre at Macclesfield District General Hospital.

The Trust is actively involved in research in a number of key areas including cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, medicines for children, cardiology, haematology, rheumatology, and stroke.

The purpose of this Health Matters talk is to demystify clinical trials, explain how they work, and look at some of the exciting research currently under way. The session will be introduced by Dr Susan Knight, and the talk will be given by our research nurses including Clare Vandor, Barbara Townley, Beverley Jones, and Joanne Shippey.

Members of staff are welcome to come along – to book your place please contact the Communications and Engagement Department on 01625 661560 or email us at ecn-tr.YourVoice@nhs.net.

The free event is being held in the Macmillan Cancer Resource Centre, Macclesfield District General Hospital. Breast care nurses will also be present to answer any questions, and light refreshments will be available.For more information or to book your place, please call 01625 663079 or email Nicola.vanderploeg@nhs.net

CANCER COMMONS “is an open science initiative linking patients, physicians and scientists in rapid learning communities. Our mission is to ensure that patients are treated in accord with the latest knowledge on targeted- and immunotherapies, and to continually update that knowledge based on each patient’s response.”

Model

Advisory boards, comprising leading physicians and scientists in each cancer, curate the molecular model that identifies the most relevant tests, treatments, and trials for each molecular sub type of that cancer, based on the best current knowledge.

Test and Treat

Patients and physicians access knowledge derived from the model, as soon as it’s deemed actionable, through alerts, notifications, news, and applications that inform testing and treatment decisions.

Report and Analyze

Physicians, researchers, and patients report clinical observations and outcomes and new data are analyzed in our Rapid Learning Communities by collaborative, interinstitutional teams to validate, refute, and amplify the current model’s knowledge and hypotheses.

Learn

The advisory boards review these results and update the framework in real time.

A new device that allows GPs and practice nurses to detect pulse irregularities and pick up cases of atrial fibrillation whilst measuring blood pressure has been recommended by NICE. Atrial fibrillation (AF) causes the heart to beat with an irregular rhythm. It can be difficult to detect and subsequently diagnose as it is often asymptomatic and can be intermittent.

People with AF are at increased risk of developing blood clots and subsequent stroke, with 423,000 people aged 65 and over expected to have AF, of whom some will be will living with the condition yet are undiagnosed.

In its medical technology guidance on WatchBP Home A, NICE says the device reliably detects AF and may increase the rate of detection when used in primary care. This will consequently allow for preventative treatment to be given and to reduce the incidence of AF-related stroke.

Have your say on NICE’s social care work
The Department of Health has launched a 12 week consultation to gather views on the topics for NICE’s new quality standards and guidance for social care.
February 1, 2013